Thanks! I haven't had a bad meal at SeaWorld. I know everyone picks Knoebels and Dollywood for their favorite theme park food, but I think SeaWorld may be my favorite outside of Epcot.

I enjoy Kraken, but I prefer Kumba or Dragon Khan since the inversions have more snap to them. But even rattly Kraken isn't rough. I just couldn't justify riding it again with the two smoother and superior B&Ms I could ride instead.

Orlando could be considered the theme park capital of the world. Their theme parks have some of the most innovative attractions and immersive theming on the planet. Most of my visits have been spent at Disney World on property with only a stray visit to Universal, but lately I’ve been dipping my toes in the tourist traps. It all started with Fun Spot and a few stays at an Econo Lodge, but this time, I jumped into the deep end and took a stroll down International Drive.

In many ways, I felt I was right back in Pigeon Forge driving down the parkway. Outside of the abundance of palm trees, International Drive is an assault of flashy signs each claiming a different superlative- tallest, cheapest, etc.

The journey began before SeaWorld at the world’s largest McDonald’s, or what Ronald McDonald calls the Epic McD (no really, that’s the name on the door). This is no ordinary McDonald’s. You still have the option to stay in your comfort zone and order all the Big Macs, Chicken McNuggets, and French fries that your body can take, but you also have some unique choices such as make-your-own omelets, pizza, and McChicken Parm. I gambled on the Belgian waffle and it was a decidedly mixed bag. The outside was hot, crispy, and delicious, but the center was ice cold like a freezer burned Eggo waffle.

I also explored the second floor. At what other McDonald’s can you say that! Along with the usual Playplace, there was also a sizable arcade. It was reminiscent of a miniaturized Dave & Buster’s with all of the modern games. I dropped $5 and proudly won a Hamburglar sticker after setting the day’s high score on the basketball game.

After a fun-filled day at SeaWorld, I returned to International Drive to ride the world’s tallest star flyer. I’ve previously ridden and enjoyed three of the other 400 footers at Grona Lund, Six Flags Over Texas, and Six Flags New England. The latter is actually in denial as their maps and signage still boast the New England SkyScreamer as the world’s tallest as of October 2018.

The Orlando StarFlyer may have only been 25-50 feet taller, but it felt considerably taller for three reasons. One, Florida is flatter than an accountant’s keister. I could see for miles. I caught glimpses of Disney, Universal, and SeaWorld. Two, you are literally looking down on one of the Orlando Eye, which is a freaking massive Ferris wheel. Three, this may be the fastest star flyer I’ve ridden. By the end of the ride, my legs were a bit numb and tingly. In some ways I actually wished it slowed down for a bit at the top so I could enjoy the view more, but as is, it’s definitely the most thrilling star flyer.

I do have one downside with the attraction and that’s the ride time. It’s a very short cycle. Almost immediately after you reach the top, you start your descent. It’d be one thing if there was a sizable queue, but there was hardly anyone waiting for the next cycle. That’s definitely disappointing considering a single ride cost about $12-15. So it’s not the best value, but it’s a really cool and thrilling way to get a bird’s eye view of Florida. 9 out of 10

While I didn’t venture beyond the star flyer, the whole Icon 360 complex looked very nice and definitely a cut above some of the tourist traps further down the road. For example, the Star Flyer has these adorable decorations on the light posts around the attraction.

Not only is this thing massive, but it feels like the world's fastest star flyer too.

The statues around the attraction are a very nice touch.

I contemplated riding this for some aerial photos, but SeaWorld's Sky Tower already satisfied my needs.

My next stop on I Drive was a much less refined family entertainment center, the Magical Midway. The FEC is dominated by three tower attractions: the world’s tallest Slingshot, one of the first S&S space shots, and a Star Flyer that they claim is “America’s only carousel on steroids.” I’m no stranger to amusement parks making crazy claims, but I found it particularly laughable Magical Midway is still boasting their star flyer as unique considering there’s one twice as tall not even 5 minutes down the road.

Grona Lund isn't the only park with an affinity for tower rides.

Icon 360 absolutely hosed Magical Midway.

Magical Midway seems to be taking it pretty well considering they still think they have "America's only carousel on steroids." I'm sure patrons won't notice the huge tower right down the street.

I found a Groupon for a half off Slingshot ride, so I decided to give the pricey upcharge a second chance. I previously rode Kings Island’s Slingshot when they offered a severely discounted rate early in the day; however, PeoplemoverMatt and I ended up waiting almost an hour due to the miniscule throughput. There was no one waiting, so I walked right on. Since they didn’t allow single riders, I was joined by an employee.

I have no clue if this is actually the world’s tallest slingshot. To be honest, the one at Old Town looks equally as tall. But this may have the most impressive launch. You recline back into a volcano complete with more fog than a Halloween Haunt. Anticipation mount and then without warning, you blast towards the sky. This should have been one of the most memorable launches out there, but something was missing: forces. I felt absolutely nothing during the launch. S&S double shots pack more of a punch.

The flip at the apex was easily the most thrilling part of the ride. That sinking feeling in your stomach whether or not the bungee will hold combined with a head-over-heels flip 300+ feet in the air is quite the feeling. But that’s it. It’s fun, but in terms of the upcharges, I think skyscrapers and sky coasters are far better thrills. I also think these slingshots have been completely outdone by Stan Checketts’s crazy saddle thing. 7 out of 10

The pre-launch sequence was the coolest part of the Slingshot.

Can anyone validate their claim if this is really the world's tallest?

I also considered a token ride on Spaceblast, the S&S space shot. At $3.50, it actually seemed like a good value. However, it was closed. And not just for the day. The employee informed me the ride is “no longer allowed to operate” and will be removed. Looking back at the tower, I honestly don’t know when it last operated judging by all the rust on the tower.

That's quite a bit of rust.

It was almost time to head to the airport, but I had one last stop in mind. Fun Spot Orlando was only another 5 minutes down the road and it would have been completely negligent on my part not to use my season pass one last time. I pulled right into the 100% free parking lot and am still wondering why the one in Georgia, which is in a completely non-touristy area, is the only one to actually charge for parking.

Fun Spot had reduced hours today. It was *only* open for 10 hours.

I had a one track mind and immediately went over to White Lightning. I was 99% sure there wouldn’t be any lines on a Monday night and I was absolutely correct. I got two quick rides, one in the front and one in the back. White Lightning is one of the best paced wooden coasters out there. I know the top speed is pretty modest, but this thing feels quite fast with all the quick transitions and little airtime hills.

I did find White Lightning considerably bumpier than my March rides. It’s still smoother than a majority of wooden coasters out there, but something I do want to note. I have no clue if and when Fun Spot pulls their woodies down for annual maintenance, but I imagine it has to go down for a stretch in the winter considering this wooden coaster may have the harshest operating schedule out there, 12 hours per day and 365 days per year. 8 out of 10

It was hard to pull myself from White Lightning, but I needed to get to the airport. Truth be told, I probably could have gotten to the airport an hour later without any issues, but I prefer not to be sprinting through the gate and anxiously checking my watch. Instead, I was able to sit back at TGI Friday’s and enjoy a bit of the Monday Night Football Game.

I rode White Lightning into the sunset.

Atlanta is so lucky to have that Paratrooper. I can't say I'll be riding this nauseating thing again.

I prefer the Kissimmee location primarily for Mine Blower, so it would have pained me to skip it. Fortunately I was able to cram a visit in the preceding day. I didn’t create a trip report since I’ve already created several, but there was one noteworthy thing about this visit. Being Orlando, there was a threat of a passing thunderstorm. Because of this, Fun Spot closed Mine Blower after a dozen or so rides.

That part isn’t bizarre. What is bizarre is the fact that Fun Spot was still running their 300 foot Skycoaster with flashes of lightning in the distance. Knowing the power of electricity, I decided against riding one of the state’s largest lightning rods. When the lightning transitioned from flashes to bolts, they shut down their attractions. Meanwhile the separately owned Slingshot and Vomitron were still running.

Of course I snuck in some rides on Mine Blower. It honestly may be my favorite coaster in the state after Mako.

I can’t say I have any plans to return to Icon 360 or Magical Midway. The other offerings in Orlando are simply too awesome. However, those two woodies (as long as they continue to maintain them) will always make Fun Spot worth a visit.

LeJebba, if you are reading this, grab a box of tissues and a barrel of Vaseline. You’re going to need it.

90% of the time I travel to Springfield, Massachusetts, it’s to visit Six Flags New England. What’s the other 10%? MGM Springfield? Nope, my type of casino looks more like Dave & Buster’s. The Basketball Hall of Fame? I want to go there, but no one ever wants to go with me. The Dr. Seuss Museum? Not until I have kids. That 10% is the fall festival known as the Eastern States Exposition, or the Big E.

This is New England’s largest carnival. I don’t know how many acres it covers, but it has almost a dozen different entrances and maps are an absolute necessity at this place. The Big E has everything a great carnival should have- crazy flat rides, artery clogging food, live music, random shops, and animals.

The midway wasn’t provided by Wade Shows, but it was provided by North American Amusements. I believe this is the only show they have in New England and they have arguably the best ride lineup I’ve seen at a US fair. Since I visited on a weekday, I was able to get a wristband for $20-25. On the weekend, the pay-one-price isn’t available and I believe they charge something like $5-10 for any major attraction.

Every good fair needs a top notch midway and the Big E has one.

The craziest thing I saw wasn’t a flat. It wasn’t a toothless carny either. No, it was the Express Pass. Yes, even carnivals are jumping on the skip-the-line pass bandwagon now. At $15 a pop, you could queue at a separate gate and get priority boarding on every single attraction. One practical feature I saw was a sign stating how many priority pass riders board per cycle. I’ve never seen that before.

Now I didn’t see a single soul purchase an Express Pass. Weekdays are light enough crowd wise that almost everything was a walk-on. And weekends deflate ride lines by not offering the wristband. So for the most part, it was unnecessary. But there was one very good reason to get one- Speed. Unlike most carnivals, Speed is included on the wristband. Because of the putrid capacity and awesomeness of the attraction, Speed often has an hour wait. Unfortunately they don’t allow single riders on Speed and no one wanted to ride it with me. I guess they don’t think fried food and inversions mix.

Yes even carnivals now offer skip-the-line passes.

Depending on your definition of a coaster, the fair had 5 credits. There was a Go Gator exclusively for kids, an Orient Experss I wasn’t shameless enough to ride in front of my girlfriend, a Wacky Worm I tricked my friends into riding a few years ago, a gravity powered dark ride, and an Interpark Super Cyclone. The latter is without a doubt the biggest coaster at the fair.

The Super Cyclone had (un)comfort(able) collars. While I often find comfort collars unnecessary, rarely do I find them uncomfortable. However, Super Cyclone’s were worn differently. Usually the straps are applied over the lap bar. On Super Cyclone, you buckle the straps first and then pull down the lap bar. This results in the lap bar pinching the straps, which causes them to dig into your shoulders.

As for the ride, it’s the perfect fit for a fair. It’s smooth and compact. And despite having a modest maximum height, the three drops are steeper than they appear and actually want to give some air. Without the collars, I think they would have given air. But instead they just gave a solid stomach dropping sensation since I was locked in place. 5 out of 10

For a coaster this small, Super Cyclone had some solid drops.

Mouse Trap is the pseudo credit. If you count Camden’s Hawnted House or Conneaut’s Devil’s Den as a credit, you’d likely count this dilapidated haunted house as one. The ride starts with a lift hill, features a whopping 10 foot drop, and a gravity driven indoor section of hairpin turns.

As for the effects, they were bad. I have a reasonably low standard for carnival dark rides. I expect cruddy effects, but I at least expect them to be timed properly. On Mouse Trap, the effects were triggered after you had passed them. But there was one scare. The clearances entering and exiting the building are tighter than Space Mountain. I actually had to duck to avoid hitting my head leading up to the lift. 3 out of 10

Credit or no credit? You can decide for yourself.

The highlight of the midway were the series of crazy flat rides. I’ll begin with Power Surge. The thought of a Power Surge in the hands of a carny had me salivating. But there was a red flag as I boarded. All the other major rides required 4-5 tickets. Yet Power Surge required just 3 tickets. I thought it was puzzling why a thrill ride would be that cheap, but I quickly found out why. This Power Surge has erectile dysfunction.

The carnies need to give this thing some Viagra since this Power Surge only rose to a 45 degree angle. At only half mast, it was impossible to flip the vehicles. I tried my hardest, but I got as many inversions as the Wacky Worm next door. Getting zero inversions on a ride like this is an absolute epic fail. 1 out of 10

Give this ride some Viagra because this is as high as it raised.

However, the fair redeemed itself with the insanity known as Twin Flip. I have never seen an attraction quite like Twin Flip and I’d like to ask why. The only downside I noticed was the buckle length. I’m a pretty skinny guy and I didn’t have much slack in the buckle. Every cycle, I saw at least 2-3 people get walk of shamed.

As for the ride, holy guacamole. It takes a herculean effort to get my dizzy. Manually spinning a tea cup so fast that it starts bouncing has a fleeting effect, but this thing really messed up my equilibrium. Essentially it was an orbiter with rocking vehicles. If you’ve been on an orbiter, you know how fast those things rotate. Now add in flipping vehicles. Sometimes the ride offered multiple flips in rapid fire succession. At other points, it held you upside down like an inverted scrambler.

Halfway through the ride, the seats lock and the operator announces that the ride is over. This wasn’t Revenge of the Mummy, so I had every reason to believe the operator. But a valuable lesson was reaffirmed; never trust a carny. The ride sped back up and induced some of the most powerful laterals I’ve experienced on a ride. These were right up there with the finale on a Chance Wipeout. Twin Flip took my breath away. 10 out of 10

Twin Flip did all sorts of weird things to my body. And I loved it.

Next door was Mega Drop. I love drop towers; they’re easily my favorite type of flat. So naturally I was ecstatic to see one at a fair. I chose a side facing the fairground (looking at the darkened carny trailer park wasn’t what I’d call appealing) and noticed how loose my restraint was. There was a good 2-3 inches between me and the restraint.

The ascent was slow. I hadn’t seen Mega Drop operate prior to my ride, so I had no clue if it’d drop without pause like a Larson tower or hold us at the top. As we reached the apex, I braced myself for the plunge but we stopped in place. The nighttime view of the fairground was spectacular. It was a visual overload of bright lights. And I had plenty of time to take it in. I’m not even exaggerating, but I think we were held at the top for at least a minute.

And then the drop happened. I didn’t think something at the fair would be more intense than Twin Flip, but Mega Drop may have topped it. That drop was pure bliss. I considered Larson towers to have the most intense drops. I have a new baseline. This (Fabbri?) creation left my stomach at the top of the tower and thanks to the loose restraint, I floated the whole way down. 10 out of 10

Credit whores are probably salivating over the Wacky Worm, but it's the drop tower you should be excited about.

At most fairs, an inverting frisbee would be the star attraction. But at the Big E, it’s just another flat. I believe Hyper Loop was a KMG creation and it had one of the best cycles I’ve seen on a frisbee. My biggest gripe with this type of ride is the lack of max swings. That wasn’t an issue with Hyper Loop. There were plenty of pre-inverting swings with sustained floater air and that turned into prolonged hangtime on the 360 degree rotations. 9 out of 10

Hyper Loop had an incredible lighting package.

After the rides, the highlight of the fair is probably the food. Local newspapers dedicate entire sections to the food offerings at the Big E. Because of my dislike of sweets, I didn’t even consider a majority of options. But I had my fair share of fried food. I had clam cakes (aka deep fried clam chowder), mini donuts, fried cheese on a stick, and a Finnish pancake.

Unlike the abominations at the Washington County Fair, these clam cakes were delicious.

Anytime I see freshly made donuts, they have my money.

I'm pretty sure no animal is off limits at this place.

I didn’t spend time at the petting zoo, but they had a pretty extensive animal collection this year. Beyond the goats (some which were cleverly donning Tom Brady jerseys), there were camels and elephants. I did spend time at the State Houses. Each New England state gets an entire pavilion themed to itself. This is one of the most unique things at the fair and it reminds you that even though the New England states are close in proximity, there are quite a few differences between them. The most notable is that Connecticut supports the wrong baseball team and not the 2018 World Series champion Boston Red Sox.

I can't imagine what it'd be like roadtripping with an elephant.

Why do I feel like Porky is just a human in a costume?

The most unique thing at the Big E are the individually themed State Houses.

This Mardi Gras bead tossing parade was also a thing.

The Big E definitely isn’t worth a cross country trip. This isn’t Oktoberfest that we’re talking about. However, if you’re in New England and haven’t checked out the Big E, do yourself a favor and mark your calendar for the 2019 event.

Thanks! I basically use the smell test for carnival rides. If something looks more suspicious than usual, I'll skip it. I think the most suspect thing I've come across was a miniature frisbee ride with actual plastic lawn chairs attached as seats. They brought it to my alma mater for an event. Not sure who owned the ride, but it was called the Aztec.

Lagoon was never intended to be on the docket of parks in 2018. I’ve always heard very good things about this park, but it’s location makes it a rarely visited park for enthusiasts. However, a work trip routed me through Salt Lake City and it would have been an absolute shame to skip out on Lagoon.

Salt Lake City’s airport has an unbelievable setting. Your descent takes you over the vaunted Great Salt Lake and you are surrounding by mountains. I audibly gasped at the beauty. It looked like something straight out of a fantasy film. Except here, it was real. I knew it was going to be a good day.

This is Utah. This is real.

I was visiting during Lagoon’s Frightmares event and the forecast called for rain leading up to my visit. I’m not going to lie, with the cooler temperatures, I was a bit worried. However, I found some old videos of Lagoon operating rides in absolute downpours, so that placated my concerns. Plus the weathermen turned out to be dead wrong. The skies were overcast, but I didn’t feel a drop of rain all day.

My original plan was to visit Lagoon for 3 hours, leave to hit the nearby mountain coasters, and return for the final 4 hours. However, that plan was as concrete as Prince Desmond’s plan to save the Big Dipper. Lagoon is unequivocally a full day park. I had 11 hours and that still wasn’t enough time to ride and experience everything. Considering its location and proximity to other amusement parks, Lagoon could easily mail it in. But they don’t. This is one of the best run parks I’ve encountered.

I guess I'm visiting Frightmares today, not Lagoon.

Lagoon went all in for the Halloween season.

I mean just look at that theming and the scare actors getting into it.

Operations can be a mixed bag at independent parks. It’s not uncommon to find staggered openings and one train operations. Not at Lagoon. I arrived a half hour prior to their posted opening and they were already admitting people into the park and cycling every attraction.

Additionally, Lagoon has some of the fastest moving lines I have ever seen. They had multiple trains running on almost every coaster and I can’t recall a single instance of stacking. For this reason, do not be deterred by something that looks like a long queue. Plus the queue lines themselves are very short. They cannot hold many people. Multiple queue lines were spilling out into the midway; yet the wait wasn’t more than 10-20 minutes.

Without question, my first stop was going to be Cannibal, so I patiently waited in the staging area and struck up a conversation with the security guard who was a fellow coaster enthusiast herself. When the rope dropped, I moseyed my way over to Cannibal. It’s one of the most imposing coasters I’ve seen. That beyond vertical drop looks unreal. I’ve seen my fair share of Eurofighters, but they’re not even half as tall as Cannibal.

Returning to the efficiency of Lagoon, Cannibal was running 4-5 trains with a dual loading platform. For this reason, their star attraction never had a wait exceeding 15-20 minutes. Further, single riders such as myself can utilize the single rider queue and usually board in less than 5 minutes thanks to the 4 across seating. This made Cannibal a very easy coaster to marathon.

I’d also like to note two odd policies that Lagoon has on their coasters. One, Lagoon bans single riders in the front or back row on all their coasters. The only other time I’ve encountered something similar was at Six Flags Over Texas with the back row. Second, the park is very much against riders raising their hands. It’s not uncommon for rides to advise guests to hold onto the lap bar, but at Lagoon, I saw operators explicitly tell riders to put their hands down if they raised them.

Back to Cannibal. Fortunately the 4 across seating allowed me to get multiple front and back row rides. The coaster was exceptional in every seat, but I had a slight preference for the back to get the full effect of the drop. The lap bars were a bit tight, but I’ll take a tight lap bar over an OSTR any day of the week.

I really wanted to buy a Cannibal shirt, but realized people back home wouldn't know it was a coaster.

I had no clue what would happen as we rolled into the tower. I don’t want to spoil it, but I’ll say there was more theming than I expected. Jumping to the drop, Cannibal has one of the best drops out there. Without fail, beyond vertical drops always give powerful bursts of ejector air and Cannibal was no different. The difference here was the sheer length of the drop. The drop went on forever and after the initial pop, the ejector air morphed into sustained floater. Cannibal clearly was not messing around.

Cannibal then alternated between an Immelmann and dive loop. The Immelmann offered some decent hangtime while the dive loop began with a small pop of air before whipping riders back to the ground. But Cannibal doesn’t dive all the way to the ground in one fell swoop as it’s a surprise double down with another solid pop of air. The following overbank is the lone forgettable element on the ride.

The MCBR saps a majority of Cannibal’s speed, but it’s a rare situation where it works to the coaster’s advantage. The Lagoon roll consists of two very slow barrel rolls giving hangtime rivaling Hydra’s jojo roll. My phone was safely tucked away in a zippered pocket, but I still instinctively reached for my pocket because of how long you’re held upside down. That’s followed by a zippy downwards helix through some beautiful rockwork and one tiny pop of air into the brake run.

Cannibal is one of the most fun and reridable coasters I’ve been on. The coaster is glass smooth, which is especially impressive considering that Cannibal was designed in-house. As for where Cannibal ranks, it’s a borderline top 25 steel coaster for me. I’d go as far to rank it ahead of coasters such as New Texas Giant, Mexico’s Medusa, and Leviathan. 9.5 out of 10

Cannibal's drop is orgasmic.

The whole ride simply looks massive.

If you don't have zippered pockets, I sure hope you stored your items in a fluffy, fluffy bunny filled with medicine and goo. Cannibal shows no mercy during the Lagoon Roll.

I decided to give a token ride on Flying Aces, their set of flying scooters. As I approached the ride, the only thing that stood out was the fact that you boarded on the inside. I can’t think of another set of flying scooters that does that. Once I sat down, I realized the fins had far more movement than I expected. Maybe these could be snapped? Then the ride started and we reached Knoebels speeds. Oh yes, these babies can be snapped!

With the speed and fin movement, it was a piece of cake to chain together consecutive snaps. The result was a near death experience that caused audible gasps from folks watching the attraction. I was nervous the operate would chide me out or stop the attraction (like the Knoebels operators occasionally do), but neither happened. I got an uninterrupted 2 minutes of violent snapping. These were as good as Flyer albeit with a shorter cycle (the length was fine, it’s just Knoebels gives legendary 5 minute cycles).

A reride was necessary, but I figured I should wait a while. I didn’t want to get blacklisted. As I exited, I tried to avoid eye contact with the operator, but she smiled and remarked, “It looks like somebody had a good time.” Then I realized I was being silly. There was no need to worry since Lagoon is awesome. I got back in line and my tub moved as disjointedly as a poor quality Internet stream.

It was no surprise that Cannibal would be the top ride at Lagoon, but I was not expecting a set of flyers rivaling those of Knoebels. If these were at any other park, I guarantee you would hear Flying Aces mentioned in the same breath as Knoebels’s Flyer. They are that incredible. 10 out of 10

I thought I was going to die at least 5-6 times on these flyers. That's the sign of quality.

Flying Aces is the reason I didn’t ride the mountain coasters. Flying Aces educated me that Lagoon’s flat rides should not be missed. Because of this, I now had a full day. I followed up with Samurai, a rare top scan. I love top scans, but they’ve relatively uncommon. I had visions of that insane top scan I rode last year at Oktoberfest, but it wasn’t to be.

Don’t get me wrong, even a poorly run top scan is a great flat. It was just a disappointment after Flying Aces got my hopes up. The cycle was ridiculously short and the arms barely rocked, but at least there were some sustained inversions. The one oddity about Samurai was how long it took to reset. It probably took a minute of the arm slowly rotating forwards and backwards until the arm would lower us. 7 out of 10

Up next was the park’s drop tower, the Rocket. Without any hesitation, I selected the re-entry side. For one, it would give me more time to appreciate the gorgeous mountain view. Second, S&S space shots usually don’t do much for me. The drop on this one was decent. It gave a burst of air at the start, but the intensity just isn’t there compared to its Intamin and Larson brethren. 7 out of 10

For some reason, the dude in the logo reminds me of the mascots from Backyard Baseball.

Lagoon lets you blast off towards the stars or re-enter the atmosphere.

There was one credit I was skeptical I would get. And it wasn’t the kiddie coaster either. The coaster in question was Jet Star 2. For one, I read online the coaster doesn’t run in the rain. Thankfully that wasn’t an issue. What was an issue was the no single rider policy. Due to the restraints, Lagoon requires guests to ride in groups of two or three. I patiently waited on the ride platform for 10-15 minutes until I found a winner- a father whose teenage girls didn’t want to ride in his lap. While the girls took selfies, I got up close and personal with their father.

The coaster itself was decent. The drops had good zip to them, as did the first helix. However, saying the brakes were harsh would be an understatement. The stop was so abrupt that it felt like my riding buddy was trying to go in my back door. If Jet Star 2 allowed single riders, I definitely would have given it another whirl. But it was a one and done for me due to that policy. 5 out of 10

I'll take awkward coasters to get a boner on for $1000 please.

Sky Rides are a photographer’s dream. They’re especially nice when they can transport you from one end of a park to another. Lagoon’s Sky Ride satisfies both. As we were descending, in the corner of my eye, I spotted a kangaroo. For a second I thought I had ridden Puff the Magic Dragon, but my eyes weren’t deceiving me. Lagoon has a random kangaroo exhibit. I love this park. 9 out of 10

That's a distinct lack of fencing for a ride in the US.

40 degree temperatures and water parks don't mix.

Of course Lagoon had a lagoon.

They weren't a mirage. The park really did have kangaroos.

Up next was Colossus the Fire Dragon, a coaster with an almost identical layout to Dorney’s now removed Laser. I didn’t have fond memories of Laser. I remembered the coaster offering enough vibrations to appease a porn star. However, that was also at a time when I thought Steel Force was the best coaster in the world, Boulder Dash had no airtime, and the Internet was only for schoolwork. I was a confused child.

Colossus set me straight. The first drop had a powerful snap to it like Alpina Bahn and the following two loops were the usual Schwarzkopf perfection. But what came next was the coaster’s most intense moment. I have never been more thankful for lap bars. The transition into the helix folded me over onto the seat next to me. Colossus abused my body. Yet I liked it.

The final two helixes were decent, but nothing compared to the first half. Colossus was surprisingly the second best coaster in the park. 8 out of 10

Anton Schwarzkopf was ahead of his time.

This is the unassuming turn that catches you off-guard. Just look what it did to that front row rider!

In most areas, wicked means evil. For musical fans, Wicked is the spin off from the Wizard of Oz. To coaster enthusiasts, Wicked is simply, as we’d say in New England, a wicked cool coaster. Like Cannibal, Wicked had a single rider line. However, it wasn’t too much of a time saver. For that reason, I preferred to wait in the main queue to ensure myself a front row ride, where Wicked was noticeably smoother. The lap bar only trains prevented headbanging, but the rattle in the back row bashed my legs against the shin guard quite a few times.

After hearing a blaring siren, Wicked treated me to one of the most unique launches out there. In terms of raw speed, it’s pretty pedestrian. What’s special is the fact that it’s a two-part launch. It starts horizontally, has a brief reprieve transitioning up the tower, and then surprises riders with a vertical launch. That vertical launch had way more force than I expected and it was absolutely mind-bending to be accelerating as we climbed the tower.

Wicked then treated me to two strong and distinct pops of air, one as you crest the tower and another on the vertical descent. That’s followed by a decent airtime-filled speed hill, an ok overbank, and a dazzling zero-G roll loaded with hangtime. In some ways, I wish Wicked had stopped right there. It had already done more than most launch coasters.

Instead Wicked crept through a laughably bad second half devoid of any speed, forces, airtime, or excitement. It serves no purpose other than to add a block section and some additional length to the ride. It’s reasons like this that I don’t mind a ride like Twisted Cyclone forgoing an extra lap for a fast and memorable finish. Still Wicked’s first half is good enough to carry the coaster. 8 out of 10

To the person you thought up a vertical launch, you are a mad genius.

Inversions + Lap Bar Only Trains = Happiness

Wicked's first half is (as we say in New England) wicked pissah.

15 mph overbanks like this is all Wicked offers in the second half.

Up next were the two mice coasters. Both had full queues and took about 25-30 minutes to get through. I started with Spider. For the most part, this was your standard Maurer spinner except we started to rotate after cresting the lift. Usually you don’t start spinning until the second hill. While it was cool to start the spinning sooner, there was hardly any spinning the rest of the ride. It was especially odd since we had a very unbalanced vehicle with a couple on one side and me on the other. 6 out of 10

I hope you don't have arachnophobia.

Spider spins when it shouldn't...

and not when it should.

Wild Mouse was a minimally braked version of the commonplace coaster. This resulted in some powerful laterals on the top section and a bit of air on the big drop. But the highlight was the brief, house-themed tunnel. The amount of detail in that single tunnel is impressive considering the coaster flies right through it. But it does make for a nice visual off-ride. 5 out of 10

Lagoon knows how to run a mouse, unbraked.

Roller Coaster is the unoriginally named classic coaster that is the park’s senior citizen. The station definitely looks retro with the architecture and flashy neon lights. And it’s clear the park appreciates the coaster’s rich history as there’s a detailed montage in the station. I think the funniest bit is an old photo where everyone has their hands raised and Lagoon has a disclaimer stating it was a historical photo and that riders must now hold on.

The Millennium Flyers were new additions in 2018. For this reason, I was optimistic this oldie would be reasonably smooth. That wasn’t the case. Roller Coaster is a pretty bumpy ride. However, I am willing to look past that because of the airtime. If you ride towards the front, you get nice pops on any smaller hill and powerful bursts on the final two turnarounds. In the back row, you get nice floater air on any sizable drop. 7 out of 10

True beauty is an illuminated station of a classic wooden coaster.

I love the history montage, especially seeing the time when raising your hands was allowable at Lagoon.

For a coaster almost 100 years old, Roller Coaster has some solid airtime.

I hadn’t heard much about Lagoon’s dark rides. Both Terroride and Dracula’s Castle had impressive facades, but I still expected something on the level of a carnival dark ride. So imagine my shock when I saw the detailed scenes and large props on both dark rides. Now they were both on the shorter side, but if that’s what they had to do to ensure enough budget for high quality rides, it was a worthwhile decision.

I had a slight preference for Terroride. It had two really well executed jump scares. And it cemented the fact that Lagoon clearly has a thing for human sacrifice. Their star attraction is called Cannibal after all. Meanwhile Dracula’s Castle was free of jump scares, instead relying on the detailed design of the cornucopia of horror monsters. 8 out of 10

I absolutely love everything about Terroride's facade- the castle, the rocking sign, and the animatronic skeleton.

I caught Dracula after a breakout so I avoided a queue.

Boomerang was more violent than usual. Vekoma Boomerangs usually concentrate their aggression towards rider’s skulls. Lagoon’s Boomerang focused on delivering body shots. Fortunately, Lagoon’s Boomerang isn’t a Vekoma Boomerang. Instead it’s their set of bumper cars. The cycle is definitely on the shorter side, but the arena is huge and the cars actually have some oomph to them. 7 out of 10

Usually it's not a good thing to be rougher than a Vekoma Boomerang. But with bumper cars, that's actually a good thing.

I wasn’t quite sure if I’d ride their pseudo top spin due to the water effects, but the attendant assured me they were off. This was true, but I think they also turned off the inversions by mistake. Cliffhanger was an absolute tease. It came as close as possible to flipping without actually flipping. Maybe the ride just needed some WD-40 since it sounded like metal on metal screeching with each movement. 1 out of 10

Grinding Metal the Ride

Thankfully the Rock-O-Plane delivered inversions in bunches. Now that I know what the magic lock and release lever does, I lock and unlock my vehicle to my heart’s content to maximize inversions. The only downside with Rock-O-Plane is the painstakingly slow loading procedure. Every other time I’ve ridden a Rock-O-Plane, I’ve been the only rider so I’ve never had to witness the load procedure that makes a Ferris Wheel look like the Phoenix’s dispatches. 7 out of 10

One of the few rides where you don't get in trouble for rocking the vehicles. You can try on your own, but I bet you'll need the magic lever.

Centennial Screamer was the park’s enterprise. Going into my visit, this was one flat that I heard was run particularly well at Lagoon. It was fast, but I’ve been spoiled by the enterprise at Fun Spot. I love the friction pads on the seats that prevent riders from sliding and wish more had those. Nonetheless, enterprises are a dying breed so I make it a point to ride these intense flats whenever I see one. 6 out of 10

Those grey skies sure looked ominous, but they never produced a single drop of rain.

Air Race was probably Lagoon’s least efficient ride. Beyond having a third of the ride’s vehicles closed due to maintenance, the loading wasn’t particularly fast. As of late, I’ve been running into the smaller air races so it was refreshing to see a larger model. However, this one had a much shorter cycle. Still it was enough time to get at least a half dozen inversions. 7 out of 10

I forgot just how big of a footprint the larger air races occupy.

I still had 3 credits left, so I made my way to Bombora. Before they built Cannibal, Lagoon designed this roller skater on steroids. Bombora probably has the most gratuitously overdesigned trains that I have ever seen. Not only does this junior coaster have on-board audio (themed to surfing of course), but it also has LED seashells that illuminate at night. As for the coaster, it was glass smooth. There wasn’t a bit of force, but that’s pretty typical for a junior coaster. Really it’s those trains that make this coaster somewhat memorable. 5 out of 10

Bombora was the gateway coaster for the park's designers. They weren't satisfied with the small stuff, so it led to Cannibal.

Just look at those trains. Hot dang!

The sun was beginning to set and I was a bit nervous. I had yet to make my way to the back of the park where the two water rides are located. In some ways, I figured venturing to the back of the park would be a waste of time. The temperature had plunged into the 40s. Surely Lagoon wouldn’t be operating their flume and river rapids. Or would they?

It took me a while to find the water rides. These rides are separated from the front of the park. I thought I made a wrong turn as I passed through the picnic pavilions, but that’s how you reach them. The only other alternative is to pass through the water park (when it’s open of course). The Log Flume’s station was deserted outside of an operator. It appeared open, but I was worried I’d be turned away as a single rider considering that’s a policy I’ve encountered on several flumes.

Oddly enough, Lagoon had no problem with me riding as a single rider. The flume has one of the most tranquil experiences I’ve had on a ride. While the scare actors and crowds were roaming the midways at the front of the park, Lagoon’s Log Flume quietly meandered through the still woods in the back of the park. Then plunge at the end wasn’t anything to write home about and fortunately it wasn’t a soaker. The last thing I wanted was to get drenched on such a cool night. 6 out of 10

It was so peaceful in the back area of the park. No crowds, no scare actors, and lots of trees.

In case the logs in the flume weren't a queue, the park kindly reminds you it's called Log Flume.

Yet I was stupid enough to ride Rattlesnake Rapids. I talked myself into it saying my next visit wouldn’t be for quite some time and Lagoon would probably have the effects dialed back anyway. Unlike the Log Flume, Rattlesnake Rapids did ban single riders. Fortunately there were two teenagers as crazy as me and I rode with them.

Rattlesnake Rapids is one of the best landscaped river rapids rides I’ve ridden. If the mountain backdrop alone wasn’t enough, the ride’s layout is completely concealed by trees and is loaded with rockwork, including a lengthy, fog-filled cave. This is one of the longer river rapids rides I’ve ridden and there was easily more than a dozen rapids. If I had to guess, the ride was toned back due to the temperature. The rapids didn’t offer more than a sprinkle and there were a few points that looked like obvious candidates for a waterfall. 7 out of 10

Rattlesnake Rapids is extremely well landscaped. And long too.

But most people weren't as dumb as me and decided to actually try and keep their core temperature up on a cooler day.

The one coaster I was dreading to ride was the Bat. For one, it had one train and a full queue. I really did not want to burn a half hour waiting for a cruddy coaster that is the beginner’s guide to CTE. Fortunately the park’s speedy dispatches got me on the Bat in just 15 minutes. Unfortunately, the Bat still sucked. I leaned forwards for self-preservation, but still took a few headshots. 2 out of 10

It's considered a rite of passage for a father to share a beer with their son. With the Bat, younger riders get a chance to pop an Advil with their parents to treat the headache this coaster could potentially cause.

The final coaster was Puff the Little Fire Dragon. By this point, I knew the drill. As a single rider, I had to sit somewhere in the middle of the train. However, the operator moved me to the back of the train. I stopped trying to understand Lagoon’s seating policies and instead happily got my kiddie credit. 2 out of 10

When I told friends and family I rode Puff the Magic Dragon, they didn't think I meant a coaster.

I also rode one other dragon. This one was Jumping Dragon. The park has two Himalayas. I think I rode the one targeted more towards kids and families, but the ride was too beautiful to skip. Not only was the ride vehicle a bright and colorful dragon, but the ride was nestled in a pagoda. As for the ride, it was faster than expected and traveled in both directions. The latter is something that even most adult Himalayas fail to do. 6 out of 10

The dragon alone would have been impressive. But the pagoda too? Lagoon spoils the locals.

Originally I wasn’t intending to experience any of Lagoon’s haunts. I figured they’d have lengthy queues and I’d rather spend my time racking up night rides on the coasters. But Lagoon offered an absolute lifesaver in the Time Warp pass. For just $15, I was granted 7 skip-the-line passes for the 5 different haunted houses. I cannot recommend this pass enough since the haunt queues easily looked to be over a half hour in length.

This is the third park I've seen recently that offers a Halloween haunt skip-the-line pass despite not having one for the rides. Canobie and Lake Compounce do the same thing.

Malevolent Mansion was the best and scariest haunt. One of my biggest pet peeves is when a haunt has well-designed set pieces, but it’s too dark to enjoy them. It’s possible to be scary in a lighted environment and Lagoon proved that. The haunt actors were extremely aggressive and not afraid to get right up in my grill. This resulted in several excellent jump scares. The haunt was short, but it excelled in every other area. 8 out of 10

It's queues like this that made Time Warp worth it.

Fun House of Fear was just a notch behind in quality. This haunt traded scares for interactivity. The scare actors were plentiful and holding creepy conversations throughout. Combined with the colorful set design, some neat animatronics, and the gimmicky 3D effect, Fun House of Fear was a really nice haunt. It reminded me of a toned down version of Canobie’s Carnivus haunt that I love so much. 8 out of 10

Nightmare Midway started off as a disappointment. It began with a pitch black corridor with nothing but jump scares. For many, this is all that’s needed for an effective haunt. But as I said earlier, I look forward to theming. Fortunately the second half had some interesting sets like a strobe maze, streamer maze, and an Area 51 section. 7 out of 10

Fun House of Fear and Nightmare Midway shared the same building, but they couldn't have been more different.

Nightwalk was where the vampires and witches came alive. It had as many jump scares as Nightmare Midway except it had a decent set to compliment them. Nothing in particular stood out, but it was a solid all-around haunt. 7 out of 10

Lastly, there was the Frightening Frisco. Tucked away in the back of the park by the water rides, it wasn’t too surprising this was the only haunt without a queue. Or maybe it was because it was easily the worst haunt. However, it shouldn’t have been the worst. It may have had the best set design as they went all in with the western theme. The haunt was just missing scare actors. Not only were there less actors than the other haunts, the actors that were there just weren’t getting into it. I’m hoping I just caught it on a bad night. 6 out of 10

If only the scare actors were as good as the sets.

Probably the best part of Frightmares was the Seance upcharge. It cost $10 and was well worth it. This is something that is way better if you do not know what is going to happen. For that reason, I really won’t go into detail. I will say that it had some really impressive effects and it was an intense show. One of the guests asked to participate looked like she pooped her pants worse than Nathan Peterman in the fourth quarter. 9 out of 10

What happens in there is a mystery and well worth the $10 admission.

The only area that left me disappointed was the food department. Yes this is a rare park that charges for water, but that wasn’t my issue. My issue was the food quality. After a mediocre soft pretzel and substandard fries, I decided to try one of the chains at the park. In retrospect, I should I gone to Subway, but I had never been to Arby’s. And let me say that I will never be going back to Arby’s. My “roast beef sandwich” tasted more like bologna. Please come to New England if you want a real roast beef sandwich.

My best meal of the day came at the surprising In-N-Out Burger location on the way to the highway. And I’m going to be honest, this is the most overrated fast food joint out there. It’s not bad by any means. In fact, I’d take it over most fast food restaurants. I’m just perturbed by In-N-Out Burger fanboys. If you thought Cedar Point or SFMM fanboys were bad, try telling an In-N-Out fan that their burgers are just ok.

You know you’ve visited a great park when you feel sad exiting through that turnstile. You think of all the pleasant experiences you had and then get distressed that it may be quite some time before your next visit. That’s how I felt leaving Lagoon. I don’t know when I’ll be back at Lagoon, but I will definitely be back there someday. It really is a fantastic park. It’s a shame more enthusiasts don’t make it to Lagoon because it has a very well-rounded ride collection combined with efficient operations.

Even Lagoon's bathrooms are awesome. The bathroom itself was clean (sorry PKI Jizzman if this gives you Cedar Point PTSD), but I especially loved the signage on the building and the rotating toilet out front.

I haven't been to many Halloween haunts, so my experience is limited. I think the only one I've been to outside of New England is Lagoon's Frightmares. But of the haunts I've been to, without question Lake Compounce's Haunted Graveyard is the best. I made three visits to the Haunted Graveyard this year and each visit couldn't have been more different.

Visit 1- The Walkthrough

After an afternoon at Six Flags, I made a side-trip to Lake Compounce for a night cap. The goal of visit one was to experience the walkthrough. As a season pass holder, the rides were free, but the haunt was a $25-30 upcharge. I had a 7 pm reservation, so I had two hours to burn. So I made a lap of the coasters not named Zoomerang.

Because of its putrid capacity, my first stop was Wildcat. Much is made of the fact that Boulder Dash only runs one train now. But swept under the rug is the fact that Wildcat does the same. I actually think it's worse on Wildcat since the trains hold a minuscule 14 passengers and take forever to return to the station. I only rode the retracked Wildcat once all summer because it usually had a line longer than Boulder Dash.

I finally got my elusive Haunted Graveyard Wildcat ride. Last year the coaster was closed due to the park's baffling decision to start painting the ride in September after the retracking fiasco and in the 5 years before that, I never saw it run once during the Halloween event. By going there at rope drop, I was in the front row on the second train of the day. Was it any better up front? Sadly no.

The retracking helped. In its prior state, Wildcat drew blood on a few of my friends and father. The retracking upgraded Wildcat from a dumpster fire to just mediocre. It's still far bumpier than a retracked coaster should ever be, but it's at least rideable. It just doesn't offer any airtime whatsoever. 3 out of 10

I never thought I'd see the day when Wildcat was open at Haunted Graveyard.

After a quick ride on Phobia, I began the part of the night where I ride nothing but Boulder Dash. That's the effect of having one of the world's best roller coasters in a park like Lake Compounce. I got four front row rides and each subsequent ride was faster than the last.

Boulder Dash's outward leg begins with some powerful laterals before transitioning to strong and very quick pops of air. After the turnaround, Boulder Dash kicks it into overdrive and accelerates at a shocking rate on the return leg. Every single hill gives copious floater air without even a hint of roughness. These rides were just the appetizer. The main event would be the night rides. 10 out of 10

Boulder Dash absolutely hauls and has been dubbed the supersonic wood coaster by one of my friends.

One new addition for the graveyard walkthrough was a VIP option that allowed you to skip the line entirely. The timed option does a good job minimizing your wait time, but you usually still have to wait 20-30 minutes to enter. I didn't see how much the VIP option cost, but I decided to just wait the line out.

This walkthrough is why Lake Compounce's Halloween event is the best in my opinion. Most haunts consist of several 5 minute haunts that you have to wait a half hour for. Because of this, I rarely do haunts if they have any sort of wait. Haunted Graveyard is a single hour long haunt, which is definitely worth it. The walkthrough has great set designs, preys on every phobia in existence, and is loaded with scare actors. 10 out of 10

I didn't get any pictures of the Graveyard, but there's some theming set up elsewhere in the park.

Bozo is one creepy clown.

The night ended with a front row ride on Boulder Dash. I rank coasters based on the optimal conditions I've experienced them in. I know that's different than how some rank coasters (for those who even rank them), but it's this reason that Boulder Dash is a top 5 coaster in the world for me. Boulder Dash is absolutely out-of-control at night. It's pitch black and I always get tears in my eyes from the relentless speed.

The line was all the way back to the midway and took about 45 minutes. If there was ever going to be a night to finally add the second train, this would have been it. Then my prayers were seemingly answered. I saw a parade of employees heading up the exit. Some looked like executives and others were maintenance workers.

"Attention those queuing for Boulder Dash, there will be a brief delay in operations but you're in for a treat. Boulder Dash is going into two train mode!"

The fact the park calls two train operations a treat is somewhat a slap in the face, but I was too excited. They dispatched an empty train and I anxiously waited to see if they'd stop it on the lift or brake run after last year's mishap. Sure enough they stopped it on the lift. An employee went over to the transfer track. After 5 minutes, the lift restarted. The same empty train returned. Another guest asked what was going on.

"Change of plans."

I say this half joking, but does the park seriously not know how to add a second train?

Visit 2- The Power Outage

One epic night ride wasn't enough on Boulder Dash, so I planned a return trip after work the following week. As I pulled into the lot, something was wrong. It was dark. Too dark. Cars were rolling past the parking booth too fast. I had a sneaking suspicion the park was without power and the employee manning the ticket booth confirmed my fears.

However, I heard a rumble in the distance. It sounded like the roar of Phobia. Intrigued, I walked towards the main gate and it was ominous. Usually the tunnel under the park is brightly lit and filled with fog. Tonight, it was still. It looked completely unnatural.

This is what the Haunted Graveyard is supposed to look like.

This is what the Haunted Graveyard looked like during a power outage.

As I reached the gate, it was pure chaos. The ticket booths and guest relations were darkened. Employees on megaphones were warning guests that they were no longer selling ride passes. Fortunately they were still honoring season passes and pre-purchased admission tickets. The only thing they were selling were Haunted Graveyard tickets. And they were being sold from the Potato Patch French Fry stand, which was one of the few stands with power.

Here's the line of angry and confused guests trying to purchase Graveyard tickets at a French fry stand.

To the park's credit, most rides were actually operating. Everything to the right side of the park was running outside of Saw Mill Plunge and the kiddie rides, neither of which operate during Haunted Graveyard anyway. However, everything on the left side was closed. That included Wipeout, Bumper Cars, Down Time, Carousel, Wildcat, and...Boulder Dash.

The line of demarcation cut me off from Boulder Dash.

Boulder Dash being down completely changed my plans for the night. Instead of getting a night marathon until closing, I grabbed quick rides on Phobia and American Flyers before departing for Six Flags New England. The drive was only supposed to take 40 minutes, but somehow it took almost 2 hours due to a horrific traffic jam at 9 pm in Hartford caused by a five lane highway being reduced to one lane.

On the bright side, Superman was absolutely flying and the Diamond Membership skip-the-line passes are absolutely clutch.

Superman isn't a bad consolation prize. In fact, many would actually prefer it to Boulder Dash.

Visit 3- Boulder Dash Marathon and Red Sox win the World Series

After another afternoon at Six Flags New England, I returned to Lake Compounce for the final night of Haunted Graveyard. I had a one track mind to get as many front row Boulder Dash rides as possible. I also wanted to see the Red Sox win the World Series. Fortunately the marvels of technology allowed me to stream the game from my phone.

I got a total of nine rides with all but one in the front row. The lone exception was when I used my complimentary exit pass from the night of the power outage. While I could have asked for the front, I would have felt guilty doing so and simply asked to fill in an empty seat.

Ultimately I'd say it was a successful night. Lightning Rod was able to top Boulder Dash for the best night ride, but that's the only coaster that has.

My roller coaster season usually ends with Six Flags New England. In the past, it was always a night ride on Superman towards the end of Fright Fest. Though thanks to the Six Flags gods, that is no longer the case. Superman is closed until 2019 barring a Christmas miracle, but Six Flags New England will reopen later this month for Holiday in the Park. I just pray temperatures are at least in the double digit range this year.

I made three visits during Fright Fest. Two were planned, but the third was a 45 minute visit after a power outage at Lake Compounce denied me my coveted Boulder Dash night rides. For better or worse, the theming around the park was comparable to past years. I thought the amount of scare actors patrolling the midway was definitely on the lighter side and this is one area where Canobie put Fright Fest to shame. I think my membership gives me a discount or free pass to the haunts, but I instead chose to maximize my Wicked Cyclone and Superman rides.

The lone Fright Fest activity I partook in was silently judging the six souls who donated 30 hours of their life to the coffin challenge. As miserable as that sounds, most seemed to be living the life of luxury streaming cat videos from their phone and indulging themselves in all their Six Flags culinary favorites. Though if you were just going to lie on a couch anyway, I guess you can at least get something for your laziness (with a healthy dose of public shaming).

What would you do for a season pass and a chance at $300?

I wonder how well they slept.

I also took great pleasure laughing at the signage on several of the park's attractions on the last day of Fright Fest. Gotham City Crime Wave was listed as temporarily closed despite being disassembled in pieces. I found that particularly interesting considering they completely dismantled the ride just this summer for a rehab. Kryptonite Kollider was also listed as temporarily closed despite missing all the seats. And Goliath was its usual fubar self with it's extended rehab sign out front. Though much to my amazement, Goliath actually opened despite the high hovering around just 50 degrees and it didn't break down for at least three hours. No clue if it lasted any longer since I departed for Lake Compounce, but I have to assume it gave patrons one final breakdown for the 2018 season.

Either Six Flags can assemble rides faster than carnival workers or they have a different definition of "temporary" than me.

Once Cyborg opens, Kryptonite Kollider can go all Goliath. It can be the ride that never operates, but has an almost identical attraction located less than 50 yards away.

Extended rehab = not worth trying to open on the last day of the season, especially when it's 50 degrees out. Or so I thought...

Somehow a ride with an extended rehab opened a few hours later while the temporarily closed rides were in pieces. Way to Six Flags.

I didn't ride Flashback, but I did find it funny the park's thermos would pick that coaster and not Superman or Wicked Cyclone.

New England SkyScreamer was running in reverse for Fright Fest. Along with upping the thrill, I think it's a brilliant move from a comfort standpoint since it prevents the wind from blowing in your face on those bitter 40 degree nights. The park also still calls it the world's tallest. Maybe they'll take it down next year since I got a world's tallest chairswing shirt on clearance, but I could also see the park keeping it either out of laziness or grandfather status.

Just ignore that huge tower in Orlando.

I saw a lot of posts this year that Wicked Cyclone and Superman were not running their best. However, I had no issue with them this year and both were running exceptionally well even though it was in the 40s. I forgot how fast Superman's line moved with the second train. I also forgot just how slow Wicked Cyclone's dispatches are at the beginning and end of the season.

I don't think there's a single bit of straight track on Wicked Cyclone.

I only got single rides on Batman, Riddler, Joker, and Pandemonium since I will be walking onto all four at Holiday in the Park next month, but they are a nice supporting cast to the two main headliners.

Batman may be the roughest coaster at the park now (and it's pretty smooth). When you can say that about a non-stand up B&M, that's a good sign for a park.

I'm still in disbelief they added new trains on their 20 year old SLC, but I'm very grateful.

Maybe I'll actually check out the haunts next year. Or then again, I may just ride Superman and Wicked Cyclone to death. I'm incredibly lucky to have those two coasters (plus Boulder Dash) just a few hours from my apartment.

Nice end of season report! I need to get back to Lake Compounce, the last time I went was like 4-5 years ago before Boulder Dash got a partial (or maybe even full) retracking and was running pretty rough. I've had smooth rides on it though, so I know it's potential!

Wicked Cyclone was running great when I went in June but I remember Superman seeming a little sluggish at the time. But sluggish Superman is still better than anything B&M has ever built, and honestly that park has one of the best two-best of their lineup than most parks do in the US.

Six Flags New England isn't immune to some of the "Six Flags"iness of the chain and there've been a number of times where I've had crappy service there at a ride or food location, but I don't think I've ever had a "bad" experience in terms of the ones I've had at other parks in the chain. I've always thought it was one of the better Six Flags parks as a whole.

But the "temporarily closed"/"extensive rehab" signs thing is hilarious. Like...how hard is it to just communicate with a simple sign what the ride's actual status is?

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